The Days of Johann - an agility dog!

New things we've seen lately!
Arrrggghhhh!
Natural beauty!
Marmaduke comes to the big screen!
New Nina Ottoson plastic interactive puzzle toys!

Posted: 02 Jun 2010 03:55 PM PDT

There sure is a lot of fun stuff to see around here, so we wanted to share some more of the new stuff we've seen lately!

The other day Mum thought she heard a noise outside and went to investigate. At first she didn't see anything, and then she looked closer and saw a head peeking up at her from out in the pasture.

She noticed it was a doe and thought it was so cool! Then she watched a little more and saw that there was a little baby fawn with this doe, having a grand ole time exploring her new world! Sure wish we had a big ole zoom lens so we could have gotten a better photo, but if you look real close you can see the fawn right beside the doe's back legs. So cute!

We've been having a lot of off and on rain here the past few days, and lots and lots of humidity. When that happens is when we see the turtles come out. We found this one near the barn the on our way to the pasture to get in some exercise. He (or is it a she?) was a little more friendly than the other one we saw a few weeks back. Didn't make us bark at all!

Our little friend the snake is still hanging out in the flower bed next to the cabin. Every morning we see his little head peaking out of the entrance to his home. We walk by and he slithers back in so we can't see him anymore. Smart little snake, BOL!

Since it's been so humid, we are seeing tons of mushrooms around. We hear some can make a pup pretty sick, so Mum makes sure we steer clear of them, even though we've never shown an interest in one. Here's one of them we saw in red (we think he need to learn more about clearing up those spots, BOL!)...

We also have seen lots of wild garlic growing around the cabin. Gracie and I love to chomp on some grass near there, but every time we come close to the garlic Mum watches us to see if we show any interest and we never have, with the garlic or the wild onions that we see growing on the edge of the pasture. Since those things can be harmful, Mum is wondering if our natural instincts to keep away are kicking in? Probably!

Hope you're weather is a lot better than our's lately. We're hoping that it clears up and cools off just a bit this weekend, 'cause Mum is planning for us to hike some of the Cumberland Trail this weekend! More on that later...

Arrrggghhhh!

Posted: 02 Jun 2010 02:28 PM PDT

Oh what a Mum won't do to embarrass ya!

There I was, minding my own business hanging out on the bed with my kittie bro, Wiggy, when Mum thought it would be cute to cuddle me up in a blanket. Looks like I visited www.irvingia.net and lost some weight, BOL! But I haven't, thank Dog.

What is it with Mum's and thinking this kind of stuff looks cute! Oh the humiliation, I say!!!

Natural beauty!

Posted: 02 Jun 2010 01:36 PM PDT

On our long walks the past couple of weeks we've seen some awesome natural beauty. No, I don't mean me surveying my new domain, BOL!!!

I mean real beauty! Flowers, flowers and more, that have cropped up in the past couple of weeks. So we wanted to share 'em all with you!

Out by the big pasture and between the two ponds that border the entrance to the big woods is a big field of daisy's (mixed in with some other white weeds). Makes for an awesome site, that the photo just doesn't do justice.

On our walks around the big pasture, there is one section where I do my Calvin Bo-Rail impression that has a wall of privets on the other side of the fence. Early on when they first started blooming the smell along this part of our walk was just amazing!

On our way to the mailbox is where we picked up the rose the other day, now they are blooming much more along the lane, so beautiful!

On our way back from the mailbox on the other side of the lane, we found some wild strawberries growing here and there. I wanted to eat 'em!

Then back in the large pasture is this one section that has weeds that at a certain time of day look like spun gold! (Photo just doesn't do it justice :)

These are other new flowers we've seen popping up lately in the pasture and up near the woods. Orange! Mum thinks it may be Butterflyweed.

Back closer to the woods we came across a different kind of moss the other day, very fuzzy. Mum just loves moss, takes photos of it all the time!

Then even deeper into the woods we found these the other day - Mum was wondering if they may be Johnny Jump Ups, flowers she used to find in the woods all the time when she was just a wee pup, related to pansies! Or it could be a Trillium - so much to learn!

Mum says there is beauty in everything, even a wild animal print. Wait! That's Gracie's paw print, my wild manic sis, without boots, BOL!

But then we saw a real wild print, a racoon we think :)

Hope you are seeing as much beauty as we are this spring!

Marmaduke comes to the big screen!

Posted: 02 Jun 2010 12:39 PM PDT

From the popular comic strip, Marmaduke comes to the big screen on Friday! And this one looks like a lot of fun!

Brad Anderson created the decades-running newspaper comic strip Maraduke about a mischievous Great Dane who lives with the Winslow family, in 1954. Director Tom Dey has updated the story for 2010, and the story focuses on the Winslow's family move to a new neighborhood with their large yet lovable Great Dane, who has a tendency to wreak havoc in his own oblivious way and sure doesn't need to click here for any weight loss tips!

Directed by Tom Dey and starring Owen Wilson as the voice of Maraduke, the film is sure to be a hit with families. The film also stars Amanda Seyfried, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Ron Perlman, Judy Greer, Anjelah Johnson, Lee Pace, Steve Coogan, William H. Macy, George Lopez, Damon Wayans Jr., and David Walliams.

Read more on IMDB!

Want to know more about dogs and movies? Check out my Squidoo lens - The latest and greatest movies about dogs!

New Nina Ottoson plastic interactive puzzle toys!

Posted: 02 Jun 2010 05:39 AM PDT

Not too long after we moved to the cabin, the nice folks at the Company of Animals sent us, for free, two of the new plastic Nina Ottosson toys to try out!

Well, you know how much we just love the Nina toys, so we were anxious to 'get busy'. Mum finally got us enjoying them on tape out on our porch this weekend, so wanted to share with you.

The first one in the video is me working the new Nina Ottosson Plastic Dog Casino. Since we already had tried out the wooden version, I knew pretty much how to work it.

The goal is to lift out the plastic bones to release the drawer that slides out that holds the treats. So I quickly got to work. The plastic bones are a little more difficult to lift out, than the pegs on the wooden version, presenting a little different challenge, but Mum thought I did pretty well.

The second toy you see is the Dog Finder, demonstrated by my manic sis, Gracie. She loved it, of course. The goal with this toy is to slide the bones in the channel so that you can lift them out and reveal the treats. She did really well with it, despite never seeing this toy before. Next time, Mum wants to tie some string in the holes on the top of the bones and give her an even different challenge in lifting the bones out. She's love that too, we think!

After our toy session, Mum took us for a nice long, long walk. Near the end the sky opened up and we got caught out in the pasture in a big down pour. We were all soaked, so Mum got us all cleaned up with the Grohe, then we settled in for a Memorial Day movie extravaganza! Loved it!

We both had a lot of fun playing with the new toys. Thank you so much to the Company of Animals for sending them and letting us get our puzzle on!

Hope you all had a pawsome holiday weekend!